Restaurants and Institutions

This week I inked the deal on my next cookbook. I love writing cookbooks, because the process gives me an opportunity to capture a snapshot of where my cooking was at a particular point of time. From “Amuse-Bouche” and the Tru cookbook to my upcoming Osteria cookbook (to be released this fall), they all document a particular restaurant or cooking style. This next one is written, obviously, from the point of view...Read More

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I have three kids, ranging in ages from 12 to 18. Although they are getting older now and becoming more balanced with their likes and dislikes when they eat and go out to restaurants, it wasn’t too long ago that they were just as picky eaters as anyone else’s kids. Maybe even more so. One kid likes pasta with only red sauce, another would constantly ask for French fries, and yet another would only eat vegetables that weren’t green. We have always been the kind of parents that refuse to pander to these kinds of highly temperamental tastes, and it sometimes was a struggle--especially when they were really young and the temper tantrums happened.

But let’s face it-- kids can be a real ...Read More

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It’s been raining so hard here lately, it feels miserable outside. Whenever it rains, I think how happy the farmers must be to have their crops watered by Mother Nature. Farming is such hard work, and so often our farmers are taken for granted. We expand our cities to overrun their land without regard for the care they put in to growing the things that feed us.

Rhubarb at Green City Market

We love the farmers and their markets. At our restaurants, as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, we can’t wait f...Read More

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I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to be a guest judge on this season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” which was filmed in Chicago. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. I love the show and was very excited at the thought of being on it. Tom Colicchio is a dear friend of mine, and what a wonderfully fun opportunity to work with him again.

It just so happened that the episode I was to guest judge on would be all about steaks, which fit perfectly with the new Tramonto’s Steak & Seafood that we opened a year ago October in Wheeling, Ill. We invited them ...Read More

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As I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs, our Rosemont restaurant is moving along very quickly. The wood oven has arrived and has been put in place. It was behind schedule in shipping for a little while, apparently stuck on a train in the middle of the country somewhere, so I was really beginning to feel anxious about it. Now it makes me so happy to see it there when I visit the construction site. I can’t wait for my team to start working with it! I’m also really looking forward to getting the Schaumburg location to a point where the oven is ready to be set. It’s like moving into a new home and having your stuff arrive and be loaded in off of the moving truck—it feels like we are ready to officially make the space our own when the heart of the kitchen arrives.
...Read More

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We’re eagerly awaiting the opening of our local farmers’ markets. We go in the mornings and get the freshest of the fresh from local farmers, including Michigan and Wisconsin, and then take the produce back to the kitchen and kick the menus into high gear for that evening.

As a chef in Chicago, the next four to five months are my favorite times of the year! So much inspiration ... there’s nothing like a perfectly juicy Michigan...Read More

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Future site of Tramonto Steak & Seafood in Schaumburg, Ill.

We walked through the Schaumburg space today at the Hyatt Woodfield. Man, there's a lot of work to be done ... it's all dirt and concrete. The first thing I noticed were torch welders hanging from the ceiling, securing the steel for the second floor. Unless you've been through this before, it’s hard to believe this will be a fully functioning restaurant within six months.

It's ...Read More

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